Rescue groups work on the scene the place dozens of individuals had been injured in a stampede throughout a Halloween competition in Seoul, South Korea, October 29, 2022.
Kim Hong-ji | Reuters
A mass of largely younger individuals celebrating Halloween festivities in Seoul grew to become trapped and crushed as the group surged right into a slender alley, killing at the very least 146 individuals and injuring 150 others in South Korea’s worst catastrophe in years.
Emergency staff and pedestrians desperately carried out CPR on individuals mendacity within the streets after the crush within the capital’s leisure district of Itaewon Saturday night time.
Choi Seong-beom, chief of Seoul’s Yongsan hearth division, stated the demise toll may rise additional and that an unspecified quantity among the many injured had been in important situation.
An estimated 100,000 individuals had gathered in Itaewon for the nation’s greatest out of doors Halloween festivities for the reason that pandemic started. The South Korean authorities eased Covid-19 restrictions in current months. Itaewon, close to the place the previous headquarters of U.S. army forces in South Korea operated earlier than shifting out of the capital in 2018, is understood for its fashionable bars, golf equipment and eating places.
It was not instantly clear what led the group to surge into the slender downhill alley close to the Hamilton Resort, a serious occasion spot in Seoul. One survivor stated many individuals fell and toppled each other “like dominos” after they had been being pushed by others. The survivor, surnamed Kim, stated they had been trapped for about an hour and a half earlier than being rescued, as some individuals shouted “Assist me!” and others had been in need of breath, in line with the Seoul-based Hankyoreh newspaper.
One other survivor, named Lee Chang-kyu, stated he noticed about 5 to 6 males push others earlier than one or two started falling, in line with the newspaper.
In an interview with information channel YTN, Hwang Min-hyeok, a customer to Itaewon, stated it was stunning to see rows of our bodies close to the resort. He stated emergency staff had been initially overwhelmed, leaving pedestrians struggling to manage CPR to the injured mendacity on the streets. Folks wailed beside the our bodies of their pals, he stated.
One other survivor in his 20s stated he averted being trampled by managing to get right into a bar whose door was open on the alley, Yonhap information company reported. A girl in her 20s surnamed Park instructed Yonhap that she and others had been standing alongside the facet of the alley whereas others caught in the midst of the alley had no escape.
Choi, the fireplace division chief, stated that our bodies had been being despatched to hospitals or a gymnasium, the place bereaved members of the family may establish them. He stated a lot of the lifeless and injured are of their 20s.
“Horrific information from Seoul tonight,” British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak tweeted. “All our ideas are with these at the moment responding and all South Koreans at this very distressing time.”
Jake Sullivan, the U.S. nationwide safety adviser, tweeted that studies of the catastrophe had been “heartbreaking” and stated Washington “stands prepared to offer the Republic of Korea with any assist it wants.”
The final South Korean catastrophe this lethal additionally hit younger individuals the toughest. In April 2014, 304 individuals, largely highschool college students, died in a ferry sinking. The sinking uncovered lax security guidelines and regulatory failures; it was partially blamed on extreme and poorly fixed cargo and a crew poorly educated for emergency conditions. Saturday’s deaths will doubtless draw public scrutiny of what authorities officers have achieved to enhance public security requirements for the reason that ferry catastrophe.
It was additionally Asia’s second main crushing catastrophe in a month. On Oct. 1, police in Indonesia fired tear fuel at a soccer match, inflicting a crush that killed 132 individuals as spectators tried to flee.
Greater than 1,700 response personnel from throughout the nation had been deployed to the streets to assist the wounded, together with about 520 firefighters, 1,100 law enforcement officials and 70 authorities staff. The Nationwide Fireplace Company individually stated in a press release that officers had been nonetheless making an attempt to find out the precise variety of emergency sufferers.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol issued a press release calling for officers to make sure swift remedy for these injured and overview the security of the festivity websites.
This was the deadliest crushing catastrophe in South Korean historical past. In 2005, 11 individuals had been killed and round 60 others had been injured at a pop live performance within the southern metropolis of Sangju.